On Thursday, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced new changes in the top echelons of Kenya Defense Forces (KDF). In the changes, Lt. Gen. Robert Kibochi becomes the new Chief of Defense Forces. Lt. Gen. Kibochi takes over from the retiring Gen. Samson Mwathethe.
Consequently, Lt. Gen. Kibochi is expected to be the man who supervises KDF’s withdrawal from Somalia. KDF has been in the Horn of Africa nation since 2011 after Kenya invaded it in pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants who had wreaked havoc in the country.
Gen. Kibochi, the 61-year old army veteran whose career spans forty years, assumes office from May 11, 2020. He is expected to have better success than his predecessor who came under heavy criticism for poor exploits in Somalia.
KDF is expected to withdraw from Somalia in 2021 upon the expiry of AMISOM’s mandate in the country. Gen. Kibochi will not be starting from scratch though, since he has been involved in planning KDF’s withdrawal for several months now.
Kibochi has not only been the Army Commander but also the Vice Chief of Defense Forces. Those two positions and offices give him incredible insight, authority, and oversight over all the plans to leave Somalia.
